


The Ally

by TheBasilRathbone



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Bates Children, Edited, First Meeting, Happy Ending, Loneliness, M/M, No Angst, Period-Typical Closeted Homosexuality, Post-Series, WWII
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 09:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16083476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBasilRathbone/pseuds/TheBasilRathbone
Summary: The Second World War has just ended, but not much has changed for Thomas. His efforts to be kinder have paid off, of course, and he's made acquaintances, is on friendly terms with his staff. It's not the same gnawing loneliness he had once felt, but it was still there, lingering in the background of his otherwise content life. He's glad, then, when an unexpected visitor stops by Downton for a visit, and brings a friend along with him.A very, very handsome friend.





	The Ally

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that has been floating around in my head for months.

He was reviewing the wine inventory when the knock came. He was almost never at his desk, and he really should have known he couldn't be off of his feet for two minutes without someone interrupting. 

"Mr. Barrow? You have visitors."

Now that was strange. Despite a rather villainous youth, he had managed to make acquaintances in town, though none that would be likely to bother making the journey to Downton without a prior appointment. A nod from him sent the maid at the door scurrying back to fetch the unexpected guests, and though he tried to busy himself with the wine list in the meantime, it wasn't long before Thomas was distracted again by the heavy click of heels down the corridor. 

"Mr. Barrow?"

"John!"

The boy grinned at him, removing his hat from his head and tucking it under his arm before leaning forward to give Thomas a hearty handshake and then pulling him in for a hug.

"I barely recognized you in that uniform."

"I'm afraid I've nothing else to wear until I get home. Besides, it does get rather a lot of attention from the girls."

John Bates the younger had somehow shaken off his parents' sterner natures. Armed with his mother's blonde hair, his father's broad shoulders, and a completely foreign impish humour, it was hard not to be charmed by him. As a child, he could bat his long eyelashes and get away with nearly anything, though both Anna and Bates' firm hand had kept him from getting wild. He'd been a regular downstairs until his parents had bought the inn when he was seven, and Thomas wasn't sorry to admit he had been saddened to see them go. Little John was the closest thing to a son Thomas had ever truly had. 

"And what brings you to visit Downton? The war is over, I'm sure your mother and father are itching to have you home." Thomas summoned the maid to fetch them tea, the girl nodding and blushing when John turned the full force of his smile onto her. 

"I'm here to visit you! Mr. and Mrs. Parker have already invited me to the farm for dinner, so I'll either stay there tonight or see about hiring a car to take me to the inn."

Thomas smiled knowingly. "I see. And busying yourself with visits before you go home wouldn't have anything to do with avoiding a good scolding from your mother?"

John had the good sense to look sheepish, scrubbing his hand over the nape of his neck. "Enlisting and shipping off before she could stop me didn't earn me much favour, I'll admit. But I wasn't gone two years."

"She hardly knew the war would be over so soon," Thomas pointed out, hiding his smile behind his cup. If Anna wasn't present to do the scolding, the least he could do was give John one for her. "For all she knew, the war could go on for another six years."

Throughout the years, it seemed that the entire world had turned upside down. You'd be hard-pressed to find a carriage nowadays, everyone was using automobiles, even in farming. Indoor plumbing and hot and cold running water made the need for men and women in service shrink considerably, which was lucky when the houses could no longer afford to pay an excess of servants. Despite it all, Anna and John Bates seemed immovable. While living outside of service had made them more publicly affectionate, Thomas had barely seen them extend more than the brief squeeze of a hand in his company. Sometimes, in passing, Anna might absentmindedly stroke the hair at the nape of Bates' neck, or he might rest both hands on her shoulders from behind, but those occasions were few and far between. Despite an evolving world of shorter hemlines and wilder music, they remained modest and quiet, keeping their heads down and working hard for what they had. And it had paid off. Anyone else might find them stern in this day and age, but Thomas had seen them through the worst of their miseries. A rather successful business, a happy marriage, and three beautiful, healthy, and loving children? Thomas would bet that they thanked the Lord every day for their good fortune. 

"I suppose I deserve the scolding I'll get. Mother might never forgive me for the stress I've caused," John sighed. 

"Your mother and father will be immensely proud of you for serving your king and country," Thomas replied. "But you'll be scolded a great deal first before they ever admit it."

"They're overly protective. I'm an adult."

"They lived through the Great War and saw what it did to all those young men," Thomas reminded him gently. "Your parents had a great many sorrows before you were born. They're no doubt afraid of the return of them."

"I know," John replied more seriously, though Thomas couldn't imagine how he truly could, or how much he had been told. "Believe me, I know that I'm lucky indeed to have a Father and Mother to be angry with me when I return home."

"Then you'll get what you deserve," he replied with a warm smile. 

"Lucky for the twins they're not yet eighteen," John laughed. "Mother and Father would have put bars on their doors and windows the morning of their birthday to keep them from joining."

"Your sister would have made a fine nurse," Thomas mused.

John grinned again, heaping sugar into his cup before taking a sip. "Father would have lost his head if he thought she might be in a mile of any danger. Not to mention in a mile of all those soldiers."

"He'd better get used to it. Your sister will have suitors clamouring at the door. She wouldn't have escaped the war without at least a few proposals."

"That's because they don't know what a pain she is a little sister behind all that blonde hair," John joked. " But it's just as well. Father's in his chair most of the time, now, they both need a hand running the inn. Don't know what they would have done if all three of us had gone."

Thomas nodded, settling back in his chair. He saw Anna more than he saw Bates nowadays, though even those visits were few and far between with the two of them busy with their inn. A few months ago he'd had lunch in the dining room on his afternoon off, letting Anna visit and occasionally dash off to handle some business or another before returning with an apology. Bates had been using his wheelchair regularly, or so Thomas had last heard, though his weakened state had not affected his ever-sharp mind. 

"So will you return to help them run the inn?"

John shrugged. "That's my plan. Give the twins a chance to go off and find a little trouble. I think Mother would like me to go to university, though I've no idea what I would even study if I went. I'm the only one out of us three kids that probably isn't suited to it, despite Mr. Molesley's best efforts." 

It was terribly nice to talk to someone, even as young as John, whom he had something of a shared history with. Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore had long gone, and though Andy would still pop by if they needed an extra hand, Thomas was the only one left from the old days of Downton. John had grown up around these people, had been taught how to make a bed by Mrs. Baxter, had taken baked goods up to the Mason farm when Mrs. Patmore had fallen ill, had wandered into the upstairs dining room after the nanny had fallen asleep and charmed the guests by apologizing profusely and giving as masterful a bow as a three-year-old could manage before Mr. Carson had escorted him back upstairs. The new staff were kind and well-trained, but Thomas often found himself with no one to share his memories with. It was a much nicer existence than the one he had led so many years before, but this was still a kind of loneliness. Not the one that seemed to gnaw at his heart, but still it lingered around him. 

"Well, if you're looking for other employment, I am short a driver. I'm sure Lady Mary would be more than pleased to have you around again."

"I think George and I got into far too much trouble for her to be happy at the sight of me," John beamed. "But speaking of staff, I nearly forgot. I brought a friend with me." John rose with a promise to return and disappeared out the door, only to reappear shortly with a man in tow. He was taller than John and evidently older by about fifteen or so years if Thomas had to guess, which would make him about as many years younger than Thomas himself. A rather odd choice for the companion of such a young man, though John could make friends with everyone, even the most unpleasant of people. He, too, was in uniform, and removed his hat to greet Thomas. He certainly wasn't as blonde as the Bates children but he had a fair complexion and a pleasant expression.

And he was handsome. Very, very handsome. 

"Mr. Barrow, allow me to introduce my friend Edward," John said formally, gesturing for the two men to shake hands. "Edward, this is Thomas Barrow, the butler here at Downton Abbey. Edward here was a friend during the war, and I thought perhaps you might be willing to find him employment here, or know of somewhere that would be hiring. He's no family to speak of, so he could even live on-site."

"Can you drive a car?" Thomas asked. It was all a bit untoward, but John was a good boy and Thomas trusted his judge of character. He'd certainly be paying if this went poorly.

"I was a pilot in the war, Sir, I'm familiar with machines. And I was a footman in London before that," Edward assured shyly. 

"Was that a limp I saw when you walked in here?"

"A small one, Sir. War injury. But it's healed well and won't impact my work. I can still lift and carry if you need me too, it hasn't slowed me down. It's stiff from travel today, but this is the worst it gets."

Christ, he was charming, and so genuinely in earnest that Thomas would have been swayed even if the man had been not so terribly handsome. John clapped his friend on the shoulder, looking rather pleased with himself. "I think he'd be a perfect fit here, Mr. Barrow. You and he would get along swell."

"You think so?" Thomas asked, raising a brow. It really didn't matter if they got on, as long as Edward was professional and well-suited (he would be nice to look at, however amiable), but he can't help but play along at the sight of John's lopsided grin. "And why do you think that?"

"Well, you're both from the same area. Edward also loves novels, especially the Brontës. You're both big cricket fans, veterans, have worked in service most of your lives. Same sense of humour. I think you'd have a lot to talk about," John explained, looking like he was about to begin vibrating with excitement, though he was obviously trying to appear nonchalant. "Besides, if he's allowed room and board, it would be nice if you two got on. You'd be spending a lot of time together here. Especially seeing as Edward...isn't much of a ladies' man, either."

Thomas nearly choked on the breath of startled air that had rushed into his lungs, and he desperately tried to cover it with a throat-clear. Surely he didn't mean..? But one glance down at Edward and he saw the younger man staring purposely down at the surface of his desk, a blush on his face. A blush!

John just grinned cheekily at him before rising from his chair and clapping Edward again on the shoulder. "I really should be getting on. As pleased as I am to see you, I'd not miss Mrs. Parker's cooking for all the world. It was a pleasure to see you again. Mr. Barrow, thank you for looking after my friend, here. Let me know how it works out, yes?" And John was out the door, his eager footsteps clicking down the hall. Thomas, for a brief moment, could only picture that and beyond, to the corridor of the staff rooms, the women's side occupied by only a few housemaids, across the locked door to the men's rooms where only Thomas resided...

"I apologize for John and his lack of...discretion," Edward spoke up after a long moment, running an awkward hand over the beginning whiskers of an unshaven face. "I really am in need of employment and a place to stay, we needn't ever mention-"

"Nonsense," Thomas blurted, cursing his own lack of finesse. "I trust young John's judgement, though his absence of tact leaves something to be desired. But a former soldier, a man of service? It sounds to me like Downton might suit you very well indeed."

Edward met his gaze, a warm smile breaking over his features before reaching out to shake Thomas' hand again. Neither man was quick to pull away. "I think it will suit me very well indeed."


End file.
